Notes / Commercial Description:
Treat yourself to a rare delight. The voluminous raspberry bouquet will greet you long before your lips touch your glass. Serve this Wisconsin framboise very cold in a champagne flute. Then hold your glass to a light and enjoy the jewel-like sparkle of a very special ale.
Oregon proudly shares their harvest of mouth watering berries, which we ferment spontaneously in large oak vats. Then we employ Wisconsin farmed wheat and year old Hallertau hops to round out this extravaganza of flavor.

More User Reviews:

Smells just outstanding, big bouquet of raspberries, some slight tartness, and just the tiniest bit of oak.

This has to be the most authentic fruit flavor I've ever gotten in a beer. This one is intensely sweet, cut by by a slight, but very welcoming tartness, some oak, etc. I get both raspberries and raspberry juice. With the lower ABV, there is no alcohol feeling whatsoever. It's almost wine-like, and barely feels like beer. No malt flavor that I can detect, just a huge expression of my favorite fruit.

This one is light bodied, with a slightly-higher-than-I'd like amount of carbonation. It's got a fizzy, crisp mouthfeel.

An outstanding achievement here. It's barely beer, but it tastes so good that I don't care.

Pours a dark red with a small pink head on top. Just a vibrant, lovely color here. As I swirl my glass I get some good stringy lacing on the sides. Whoa! My first sniff brings huge fresh, ripe raspberries...like a fresh made jam from fruit just picked from the garden. A hint of wheaty maltiness is hiding in the background along with a touch of spiciness.

First sip is a wash of sweet/sour raspberry goodness. The pale/wheaty malt background gives it a bit more of a beer feel to it. However..this is all about the huge raspberry flavor..fruit beer on steroids. A slight mellow spiciness on the back of the palate rounds it out. Quite acidic overall and slightly puckering. Raspberry beer is quite yummy.

There is a good medium body that has a syrupy consistency to it. Goes down smoothly. An interesting beer for sure. Not one I could see myself drinking much of...but a good change of pace. I can see how this could be a love it or hate it affair. I'd say it's definetly worth seeking out...especially if you're a fan of fruit beers. Cheers to New Glarus and I'm glad I have another 750.

A - Moderately heavy pour produces a 2 1/2 finger head that is a heavy froth in appearance with a bit of cream mixed in. The head is cream colored with a bit of pink and purple giving it a lightly colored raspberry slushy color. The head dissipates very slowly to a creamy half finger layer. The beer itself is a deep dark red that you can hardly see into. Moderate carbonation is visible if you look really closely. 4.5/5

S - The aroma is very heavy on red raspberries with hints of strawberry, blueberry, and black raspberries. Ever so slightly artificial berry/fruity aroma but not overly so. There is a slight earthiness to the aroma, possibly due to the fact that NG ferments the berries "in large oak vats" (taken from the bottle). 4.25/5

T - The flavor is an amazing combination of tart and sweet raspberries. It's almost like eating fresh red raspberries while drinking a raspberry flavored soda. A very slight note of wheat comes through but this mainly acts as a base for the raspberries to play off of. There is a bit of a dry hop presence on the very back end but these seem to be a noble hop variety so it really doesn't take away from the raspberry flavor, rather adding a light finish instead. Excellent flavors here and not artificial in the slightest. 4.5/5

M - Light bodied and very crisp. Somewhat syrupy at times during the sip but a dryness is maintained that lingers a bit upon swallowing. Light carbonation tickle up front which dissipates very quickly. 4.25/5

O - Excellent fruit beer with a combination of sweet and tart that is truly exceptional, and I'm not a fruit beer type of person. I bought this mainly for my wife but fell in love with it myself. A freshness is maintained that most fruited beer, IMHO, lose out on and end up getting an artificial flavor and aroma. This beer steers clear of that artificial flavor very nicely. 4.5/5

Honestly, I don't understand the rave reviews for this beer. The aroma lends a bit of funk and complexity but, as a whole, it drinks like an intensely sweet Framboise, even by St. Louis and Lindeman's standards. Syrupy mouthfeel that gets worse as it warms. Only recommended for those who like things on the border of sickly sweet. Luckily, I can stand it, since I like sweet stuff.

After reading all of the reviews, I was expecting amazingness. This beer just didn't do it for me. It was so incredibly sweet, and not in a good way.... it burned the back of my throat. There was absolutely nothing to balance out the sweetness either.... this was as sweet as Sunny Delight, and I can't stand Sunny Delight.

Every time I am about to try a new beer from New Glarus I think that there is no chance I will like it as much as the last one, but once again I am proven wrong. Of all the tart fruit beers I have tried from New Glarus, this one, at least as of now, is my absolute favorite. New Glarus somehow manages to find that perfect medium between being sweet, but not too sweet and tart, but not lip puckering tart. These beers are seriously good enough to move to Wisconsin for. :-)

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...... Living in WA I have access to de grade and cascade, I'm sorry this beer is a disgrace, not fresh fruit but fruit extract? This is the most disgusting fruit beer I have ever had, this made cough syrup taste good. How Todd and Jasom gave it a 100.... I wish I got paid that money......

For my 500th review (Woo Hoo!), I figured I would do something special. Thanks go out to nflmvp for this one.

Comes in a 1pint 9oz bottle with the cap dipped in red wax and oozing down the side of the bottle. The bottle literature proclaims this a "rare delight". We shall see.

Pours into a pint glass a murky cranberry color with a nice, fizzy, soda like head that is more of a strawberry color.

The bouquet on this is unbelievable. Tons and tons of raspberries. Possibly even some strawberry and sour cherry tossed into the mix. Basically, any red fruit, with the full emphasis on raspberry. I have never smelled something so pungent and tart and delicious.

The flavor is unbelievable as well. Perfrect amount of tartness from the raspberries with just the right amount of sweetness to balance things out.

I honestly could drink this all day every day and I would find it impossible for anyone not to like this. ABV is nonexistent. This is truly a beer to behold. Thanks again nflmvp and glad this was number 500!

Thanks to maximum12 for the New Glarus brews - superb traitor, right there. Raspberry Tart pours a murky velvet and crimson-laden shade of red with a slowly receding, lightly brown and mostly fuchsia tinted head that grows quite large, leaving a couple spots of sporadic lacing along the glass. Pretty elegant, like a wine with a head.

Fresh raspberry juice is the best way to describe the aroma... gushing with ripe, juicy, lightly tart and sweet raspberry purée. No initial chalky or medicinal or "artificial" aromas which is typically the deal-breaker with fruited beers like this. Some mild, grassy zest is faintly resting in the background, but other than that, this beer is ALL raspberries, ALL day.

The taste is a direct correlation of the aroma - fresh pressed raspberries where the juice has been drained and strained out and poured directly into the pint glass in front of me. They've got a sweet, almost residual sugary character to them, making this beer a good choice for an "after dinner" brew. Though the name would imply that the beer is tart, it's far from sour. A very light, tart spritz that hits and fades around mid-palate is about all the tartness this beer contains.

If this isn't easy-drinking than I don't know what is. It's easy to forget you're actually drinking a beer with this one, as it literally tastes like carbonated raspberry juice. Thin, silky body with a heavy amount of carbonation to provide a lively and popping mouth feel. The wet, raspberry residue filled finish keeps you coming back for more.

Definitely one of the better fruit beers I've had. I don't think I liked this as much as New Glarus's Apple Ale or Serendipity, but it was still damn good. I prefer this one to Founder's Rübæus just by a little bit. It's a touch more succulent, juicy, and "fresh", though both beers are nice takes on the raspberry-centric ale. I'd be dropping 10$ for a bomber of this all the time if it were available in my area.

A: Dark ruby red with a small pinkish head that leaves a small ring of lacings.

S: Dominated by genuine raspberry aromas with nicely complementing notes of grass, earth and fruit pits. This brewery really knows how to make fruit beers that smell like fruit.

T: Lots of fruity sweetness and raspberries all around. A fruity tartness counterweights the sweetness together and develops together with notes of earth and seeds. I might pick up a hint of chocolate as well, but I might be fooling myself. The finish is dry with sweet and tart raspberry notes. The finish is really great, very well done.

M: Medium body, decent carbonation and a slick dry finish.

D: Good. A raspberry bomb. Very intensive, and I'm very impressed that a beer with such low ABV can showcase such strong flavors. This one would probably work well as a dessert or coupled with dessert. But I wouldn't want to drink too much of it, one glass is enough.

Since it is hard not comparing this one the Wisconsin Belgian Red, I must say that I preferred this one.

I tried this two bottle on back to back nights and with the score for the fresh bottle.

This is a bottle that a friend picked up last month.

A: A light ruby red with an off-white tinted a slight red. The persistent rocky head settles to a cap but never goes away and leaves lacing on the glass.

S: Just about the most amazing thing I've ever smelled. The very strong raspberry aroma dominates with a moderate malt. The berry aroma doesn't stop and there are other lighter fruit notes of strawberries and rhubarb at moderate levels. There is a very faint vanilla aroma in the background.

T: Enormous amounts of fresh raspberry flavor like a fresh sorbet. There is a moderately-light sweetness but the balance is tart with a moderate tartness and a very light sourness.

M: Moderately-light bodied with a a moderately-high level of carbonation.

O: This is fruit beer that makes people who don't enjoy fruit beers beg their friends to pick up a couple bottles next time their in Wisconsin. A world class raspberry Lambic for adults and can't think of anything else I'd want changed in the beer.

This is a bottle I bought while visiting Madison in November 2011.

A: A bright and clear red darker than a like a rose champagne.
The head is off-white almost very light tan with just a slight hit of pink having a good retention. It does settle after a couple minutes to a ring of foam with a large raft and a quick swirl revives it. 4.0/5

S: A big hit of freshly muddled raspberry at first, but with age the raspberry aroma comes down enough to smell something else unlike when it was fresh. There is some moderately light malt and dark fruit aromas coming along with a little something else like a very light sourness. Still no hops nor diacetyl. 4.0/5

T: Tons of fresh raspberries with a with moderate tartness and a light sourness balanced by a light sweetness. No noticeable hops bitterness nor flavor. 4.5/5

M: Soft and fluffy with a medium light body and a fine moderately-high carbonation level. There is some slickness on the palate. 4.0

O: The berry flavors and aroma have become muted with age definitely more pronounced in the younger bottle. Still an amazing raspberry ale with what seems more like an Oud Bruin than a Lambic base style. 4.5/5